ATF: The Man
by chronicler-of-knuckles
Summary: A trip to the mall goes bad.


TITLE:  
  
AUTHOR: The Chronicler  
  
CHALLENGE: W.O.W. 01-05-04 -- INTERVENTION  
  
RATING: PG   
  
UNIVERSE: ATF  
  
SUMMARY:   
  
ARCHIVE: Yes, please, anywhere.  
  
FEEDBACK: Always.  
  
EMAIL: chronicler_of_knuckles@yahoo.com  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
By The Chronicler  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
J.D. couldn't help but watch the man across the store from him.   
  
Skip the fact that he grabbed his wife in a grip he was sure left bruises under those tight, long sleeves of hers, calling her stupid. Put aside the fact that he kicked the stroller every time his kid made a sound. As much as the young ATF agent would love to pounce on him for that, it wasn't `legally' hurting them. Not that he could prove in court anyway.  
  
But that way that man kept glancing about, pausing to take a good look at mall security, ducking behind his wife when they looked back...  
  
J.D. might not have been an agent very long, but he knew he saw something when he saw it... even if he wasn't sure what it was... exactly.  
  
A quick glance around, J.D. took stock of the layout. They were on the second floor of the mall, on the balcony food court. ATF Team 7 was spread out among the varies stores, shopping for Christmas presents. They had come together more of a way to force each other to get it done before the last minute panic set in. J.D. was done (he always was a fast shopper... 'course he hadn't known his teammates very long, so he bought everyone socks [not really, but that was what he was gonna tell them... he had bought their presents a week after he had met them]), so he had gone to the food court to wait for the others. The place was pretty busy, frantic parents juggling packages and more packages; kids, taking full advantage of the grownups' distraction, ran wild.  
  
It was not the ideal place for something to happen.  
  
So, of course, something happened.  
  
The man was getting rougher with his wife, slamming her back in a seat near the edge of balcony so hard her chair tipped. All that kept her up right was the back of her chair hitting the rail. "Stupid bitch!" he snarled. "What the hell are you doing paying that much on crap like that?" he waved a hand at the stroller.  
  
"I... She needed a new dress. It didn't cost all that much. I took it out of my allowance." the wife tried to defend, but flinched when slapped the table top.  
  
The man leaned over her and hissed something in her ear.   
  
The woman paled, her eyes growing big. She tried to pull away, but hit the rail again.   
  
J.D. frowned. This was getting worse. He had to do something, he thought as he came to his feet.  
  
The man grabbed his wife by the shoulder and started to haul her to her feet, but she twisted away, screaming "No! God, no, you can't! Please!"  
  
"Shut up, bitch!" he snarled at her. "I gave you a life worth living, I'll fucking well take it away! And that little brat's too!"  
  
J.D. was almost happy to hear it. Okay, that was a threat. And threats did fall under legal reason to step in and kick ass!   
  
  
  
He took a meaningful step toward the family. "Hey, folks, how's..." he started, trying to sound friendly.  
  
The man spun about to glare at him. "Mind your own fuckin' business!" he growled out a warning.  
  
J.D.'s eyes narrowed. "You need to calm down, sir. You really don't want to create a scene here, do you? Front of all these nice people?" He paused to nudge a man who instantly took the hint, grabbed his family, and hurried out of the way.   
  
The surrounding tables quickly followed suite. If J.D. had taken his attention from his target, he would of seen Josiah and Nathan coming on the scene and start a quiet evacuation of the food court. They didn't know exactly what was going on, but violence definite seemed to be a possibility.  
  
"Like hell!" snapped the husband. "That's exactly why we're here." He started to reach for the stroller.  
  
His wife screamed. "No! He has a gun!"  
  
Instantly, J.D. reached for the gun in his belt holster. "ATF! Hands up!" he ordered.  
  
The man's hands snapped up. "Hey." He chuckled. "Take it easy. You gonna shoot a man over what this stupid whore says? ATF? What's the ATF care anyhow?" He was laughing, trying to make it seem as if there wasn't anything for the kid to bother with.  
  
"Law's the law, bub. Doesn't matter who enforces it as long as they have a badge." J.D. motioned with the barrel of his weapon. "Move away from them."  
  
The baby had started to cry with her mother's scream. The woman stepped toward the stroller.  
  
"No, ma'am." J.D. glanced at her. "Just stay right there." The stroller was between him and the man. It was enough of an interference. He didn't want anything else to get between them.  
  
Though the woman obeyed, her husband started to reach for his child again.  
  
"No, sir! Stay right there!" J.D. snapped.   
  
"My baby is crying!" he protested.  
  
"She'll be just fine. Just step away!"  
  
The man glared at him. "Look, man... you see a gun? My baby is crying! I'm just gonna let her know it's okay. Okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and started to reach down again.  
  
"I will shoot!" J.D. continued to warn. "Just step away from the stroller! I said step away! Now!"  
  
Grinding his teeth, the father glanced up at him. "You little bastard." he snarled. "You gonna shoot me?" He made a lunge for the stroller.  
  
The mother screamed.  
  
"J.D.!" someone shouted.  
  
J.D. fired.  
  
His bullet took the man in the shoulder, slamming him back and over the rail.  
  
"Crap!" the agent snapped, jumping forward, over the stroller, and to the rail.  
  
The man was holding on with one hand, his wounded arm hanging from his side.  
  
"Hold on." J.D. holsted his weapon, and reached over to grab the dangling man's arm.   
  
"J.D." Chris yelled from below. "What the hell... " He ran for the escalator, quickly followed by Vin and Buck who were coming from other stores.  
  
The man glared up at J.D. "You son of a bitch! You shot me!"  
  
"Hold on. Help's comin'." the agent assured, hoping help was coming. The man outweighed him by a good 70lbs. There was no way he was gonna be able to drag him up.  
  
"I'm goin' to hell..." the man was snarling, "An' I ain't goin' alone!" Reaching up with his wounded arm, he grabbed J.D.'s sleeve and yanked, while letting go his hold on the rail.  
  
J.D. felt his shoulder lurch and pop. He was suddenly being dragged over the rail.   
  
But Josiah was there. He leaned over J.D., grabbed the back of the dangling man's shirt, and, with a grunt, dragged him up and over.  
  
Relieved of the weight, J.D. dropped to the floor, turning to lean back against the rail.  
  
As soon as they were safe, a handful of security guards were there, handcuffing the still snarling and cursing man. Josiah was happy to hand him over.  
  
Nathan had picked up the baby girl and, after checking her out, handed her to her mother who dropped into a chair and, rocking her baby close to her chest, sobbed.  
  
"Agent Dunne!" Chris was yelling as he reached them. "Can't we go anywhere without you gettin' into trouble?!"   
  
Nathan turned back to the stroller. "Hey, Chris?" he called. Reaching down, he retrieved a hand gun from under the baby's blanket and held it up for everyone to see.  
  
"Ah, damn." Buck whistled.  
  
"Now that was lucky." Vin added.  
  
Chris put his hands on his hips and stared down at his youngest agent. "If there's a gun in the house, you'll find." he accused. But then he smiled. "Good job, kid."   
  
J.D. was suddenly feeling shaky, feeling the withdrawal of andrinilian he hadn't realized he had been dosed with. His shoulder and armed hurt like hell, every muscle along its length burning. Everything had happened so fast, he could almost think he was just now sitting down to wait for the team. "Chris, I got a confession." he mumbled.  
  
Concerned, his boss crouched down in front of him. "I'm listening."  
  
J.D. looked at him with big, honest eyes. "I only got you all socks."  
  
Chris frowned.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~ 


End file.
